Mendel Bluming | Blogger

One of the biggest challenges in life is to stay motivated. Your fire and passion and drive burn brightly... until they don't.   Moses stands at the burning bush and he sees a bush aflame and there is no burnout. On Chanukah the cruse of oil was supposed to be out in a day and it lasted longer than anyone could have expected. From where did that lack of burnout come? It is a result of a deep sense of connection to the mission. If our lives are not a repetitive task or a necessary evil of earning a livelihood but rather we feel connected with a mission with which we identify than we feel no burnout because our soul is inexhaustible. The miracle of the menorah was that despite the outside tremendous pressure they felt very connected to the mission and never stopped for a moment to feel nourished by that inner flame. It is interesting that over this Covid time so many people have changed job positions. They felt the lack of mission in a previous employment and they seek some...

The Torah observant community should be the easiest customer for climate activism and environmental concern. Our tradition is clear about the responsibility we have to care for our world. Every child attending a religious Jewish school knows that the Torah forbids us to waste any useful resources. The kabbalists taught that every leaf on every tree has a soul, and must be treated with respect. And our sages record G-d's words to the first man, Adam: "Look at the beautiful world I have created. I have created it all for you. Take care not to corrupt and spoil My world, for if you do, no one will come after you to fix it." However, Jews are not big fans of apocalyptic prophecies and doomsday predictions. Other religious groups may be getting ready for Armageddon, but we have always believed in a happy, bright and peaceful future. After all there is a Captain to this ship! The claim that "we have five years to act or it will be too late" was said five years...

Each Fall we get this surreal opportunity of reliving an hour that has already passed. It makes me think about the year that has gone by.   If we were given the chance to live over an hour, a week or a year that we had already lived, would we make different choices? We think that we would but would we actually act differently? The Talmud in tractate Yomah page 86B teaches that when one does true repentance and return to G-d out of love their past misdeeds actually become merits. The explanation for it is that this strong feeling of connection came because of the distance and therefore the distance became a merit. Sort of like when a couple are not getting along and they realize how much it hurts to be apart and that distance draws them so much closer together. Ultimately what the Talmud is saying is that you can retroactively change your past. You can relive that past hour or that past week even if it is not Groundhog Day! Menachem Mendel Bluming, Maryland

Can you guess what is the most often repeated two word phrase in the entire Torah/ Tanach/ Bible? “Al Tira” do not fear is mentioned 44 times! Add to that another 26 times in which it is said in the plural (al tirau), or as many as 110 times when you include other slight variations of the tense. On one occasion or another G-d said do not fear to each of our forefathers! Why is not being afraid so important? What do you think? Here are some thoughts: Fear shuts you down. It causes you to hide and to run away. You have so much to accomplish in life through the mission tailored specifically to you. Fear is the antithesis of living life broadly and proudly and tenaciously. Fear makes you feel that you are all alone. Faith means that G-d has your back and cares about you, you are never alone even in your most difficult times. Do not fear! Mendel Bluming, Maryland

There are multiple biblical obligations to actively save the life of another and not stand by your brother’s blood (Vayikra 19:16). The Talmud in tractate Sanhedrin (73,a) teaches that one is obligated to be willing to endanger himself to some extent in order to save another's life, by doing such acts as jumping into a river to save someone who is drowning, or warding off wild predators or bandits, even though all of these acts involve some level of danger. A person is not obligated, however, to save his fellow if it puts him in great danger. The exact parameters of a great danger are discussed in Jewish Law but they are clearly greater than fighting off bandits or a wild animal. We would not want another to be overly cautious when considering whether or not to save our life and we must be willing to do the same for another, as long as the danger is not considered a great danger. To give a meal to a starving person is an obligation. To give a lobe of one's liver is permissi...

G-d turns to Abraham and says, “I would like to make you into a great Nation but first go to the Land that I will show you, Israel. Only there will I make you a great nation.”   If G-d ultimately wanted to give him a set of laws and rules to live by what difference would it make where he lives? Jews are observant in keeping the Torah in Russia and Argentina, the USA and Greece why could G-d not make Abraham His chosen nation until Abraham went to Israel? G-d's purpose in creation is for you and I to make G-dliness comfortable within the physical world. Israel is meant to be a manifestation of that mission. An entire land that expresses clearly its G-dly connection. G-d was making that clear to Abraham at the onset. If you create a corner in your home that is expressive of a higher calling. If your refrigerator reflects the food that G-d wants you to eat. If the books in your home express a spiritual calling and G-d given mission not only have you done holy things, you have ma...

Imagine if the entire world was destroyed and only you and your family was saved by being on a specially designed ark. The water has subsided and all of mankind has been wiped out and now you open the hatch to finally leave the Ark. Before you do that you sit down with your family and discuss how to build a new world.   What would you do first to build a new reality? The first thing Noah does is plant a vine for grapes; he drinks and he becomes drunk. He drank too much but his thought process might have been the following. You cannot build this world without happiness and joy. If we are infused with happiness in our lives we will be far more driven to do what is right and selfless. Generally when we act selfishly it is because we are feeling down and insecure. Happiness and joy leads to giving and seeing the best in the other. So he said Lchaim! Alcohol was a bad choice but seeking happiness and joy makes a lot of sense. How do you act when you are happy? What are you doing...